If you use Simplenote you probably have heard of the Notational Velocity fork NVAlt. NVAlt is my desktop Simplenote client of choice. If you use Simplenote and have a desktop client on your Mac, you must check out Macdrifter’s NVAlt tips. The article does an amazing job of highlighting the amazing powers of NVAlt and even for a seasoned user, it will probably reveal a feature or two you were not aware of.
The World in 1962 ↩
A really neat photo essay from The Atlantic to remind us what the world was like in 1962 with the space race, Cold War, and civil rights.
New Music Tuesday: Meiko
The Real Price of College ↩
Price of one year at Lafayette: $55,688. Up 63 percent from the price a decade ago.
It turns out, it makes economic sense to have a high sticker price and offer lots of discounts. On the show today, we explain why.
A very interesting piece on why private, non-profit colleges have such a high sticker price when over half of their students pay no where near that amount.
Drafts
Ever since Drafts came out, I immediately made it part of my workflow — it serves as a quick repository for any kind of text. The place Drafts shines over other quick text-entry apps is the ability to get the text into other apps in iOS. Once you write a note, you have the option to send it to various apps, send an email, tweet, or message, copy it to the clipboard, save to Dropbox, or even copy the HTML version of Markdown to the clipboard. All notes are also stored in the app.
Another thing that really has impressed me with Drafts is the responsiveness of the developer, Agile Tortoise. When the app was originally released, the app icon wasn’t very popular, and shortly there after the dev hired a designer to make a new icon. They have also added many of the apps users have requested support for and they keep adding more with each update. All developers should take inspiration from the amazing responsiveness of Agile Tortoise.
If you haven’t already tried out Drafts, you can’t go wrong.
How to Choose a (Science) Grad School
Having just finished up my second year of my PhD program in chemistry, I thought it would be a good time to share some advice on how to choose the right science graduate program for you.
The most important thing when looking for graduate programs is to make sure there are at least three professors you are interested in working for in the department. You don’t always get your first choice (no matter what they tell you) and you definitely don’t want to be stuck working for someone whose research you aren’t interested in.
Since you usually don’t start research until after your first year in a science PhD program, the structure of the first year is also important. Schools vary widely on the number of required classes and how many are taken a semester as well as entry exams and requirements. There is one thing that seems to be constant between all programs — you will be teaching your first year. The only way to get around teaching is if you get a fellowship, so keep that in mind when assessing the workload for the first year.
The rest of my recommendations are less concrete and more how well of a fit you are in the department.
What overall feeling does the department/university/city give you? Do you feel like you could spend the next 5+ years of your life there? Is what’s expected line up with the amount of work you are willing to put in?
Do you get along with the professors? Your relationship with your advisor will make or break your PhD career.
What is the average time to graduate? You probably don’t want to be a graduate student for the next 7+ years…
In short, find a program with multiple professors you are interested in that you feel comfortable spending the next 5+ years of your life in.
I’d love to hear from anyone in other PhD programs about what advice they’d give.
Reading Intentionally ↩
About three weeks ago, I quit reading RSS feeds.
I didn’t gradually unsubscribe from a few feeds here and there until they were gone. I just stopped.
Now, I read Kindle books and hand-picked articles in Instapaper instead.
And it’s been fantastic.
I think I’m going to have to give this a try. Look for a post in a few weeks with my experience.
94 Elements Film Project ↩
94 Elements is a filmmaking project that sets out to explore our lives through the lens of the elements.
So far they have filmed oxygen, copper, germanium, and gadolinium. I’m looking forward to see what comes out of the rest of the elements.
New Music Tuesday: Silversun Pickups
MIT Student Builds Working Mario Kart ↩
If you were a fan of Mario Kart (or still are), you must check out this video of a working Mario Kart a student at MIT built.
